Philippines acts to save its largest flower: Rafflesia schadenbergiana

Leila B. Salaverria Philippine Daily Inquirer 5 Mar 11;

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has taken steps to protect the country’s largest flower and will enlist the help of local communities in ensuring the survival of the threatened species.

The DENR has issued an administrative order declaring a two-hectare piece of land in Sitio (district) Kalanganan, Baungon, Bukidnon, as the critical habitat of the Rafflesia schadenbergiana.

The Rafflesia schadenbergiana is known as “bo-o” or “kolon busaw” to the Bogobo and Higaonon tribes of Bukidnon.

The DENR earlier categorized the flower as critically endangered. Compared to other rafflesia species, the Rafflesia schadenbergiana is more at risk of extinction because of its parasitic nature.

In the rafflesia genus, it is the second-largest flower. It can grow to as big as 80 centimeters in diameter. It is the largest of the 10 rafflesia species found in the Philippines.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said that with the recognition of the critical habitat, the DENR could enlist the help of local residents in keeping the rafflesia’s habitat free from exploitation or destruction.

“The Philippines takes pride in the endemicity of its biodiversity. The newly issued administrative order protecting the natural habitat of the rafflesia will allow the DENR to work closely with the surrounding communities in ensuring the survival of the country’s largest flower which, unfortunately, is a threatened species,” Paje said in a statement.

The DENR directed its regional office in Cagayan de Oro City, which has jurisdiction over Bukidnon, to delineate the boundaries of the critical habitat and to oversee its management. The regional office could also enter into agreements with local government units and people’s organizations for the management of the area.

The DENR and its partners would have to preserve the environmental conditions within the critical habitat to support the Rafflesia schadenbergiana and other flora and fauna that naturally thrive there.

There should also be a critical habitat management plan that would ensure the enforcement of environmental laws in the area and prevent prohibited acts such as squatting, dumping of waste, mineral extraction, burning, quarrying and logging.

The declaration of the critical habitat was in accordance with the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, and has the support of the Kalanganan San Vicente Farmers Association Inc., local government units and municipal and barangay officials, according to the DENR.

The Rafflesia schadenbergiana was named after Alexander Schadenberg, a German ethnologist who conducted expeditions to the Philippines. This rafflesia was first collected near Mount Apo in 1882. It was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered on Mt. Matutum in South Cotabato in 1994. Its existence was also recorded in Baungon, Bukidnon, just outside the Mount Kitanglad Natural Park, in 2007.